8 Ways to Talk Tech (or Anything New) With Skeptical Clients

Every financial advisor has at least one client — often older — who is set in their ways.

When I was in production, I took a client couple out to lunch. During the meal I introduced some new investment suggestions, including international investing. Their response was: “Don’t you know they are having trouble over there?” Apparently everywhere beyond the U.S. border was “over there.”

How do you get skeptical clients to buy into new ideas?

Cryptocurrency is one example, facing an uphill battle for acceptance. Statistics show that while 21% of Americans have owned the alternative investment, including 57% of millennials, only 10% of baby boomers have invested in it.

As an experienced financial advisor, you have had some success in getting people who only invested in certificates of deposit to consider putting money in the stock market. They gradually increased that amount. Other clients want to keep all their money liquid, despite likely never needing to access it in a hurry.

It is fair to say that all ideas were new concepts at some point. It may require baby steps to get clients to see an opportunity, and here are eight ways to introduce an idea.